Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind. ~ Virginia Woolf

Comets and Moons

February 24, 2010

So that alleged tummy bug from my Sunday post turned out to be a case of Strep throat? At 27? Yes. Who knew that a little kids’ bug that I haven’t had since I was two, could wipe me out like H1N1 on steroids? It was awful and needless to say, I did not get any reading done. I spent most of the weekend whining and complaining and huddling under my sheets on a 75 degree day telling my husband to turn up the heat…

Monday, after my mother in law came down with it as well and was smart enough to stay out of work (which I was not and so did not) and went to the doctor, I went to get my own culture which was in fact positive. I came home to get some much needed coherent R&R but ended up reading with my son instead of reading my big people books. Woops!

Thankfully, we read about nice cold things and stars that have nothing to do with earthly strep. One was pretty and poetic and short, the other fairly lengthy, and while still dreamy, much less mystical.

The first was perfect for a mommy with a headache. Nicholas Brunelle’s Snow Moon is a peaceful little poem about a midnight adventure through the snow. The feeling is that awesome feeling that you get when you take that very first step into fresh snow when the world is silent and untouched. The images are beautiful and cold but are not stark or lacking.

The second was perfect for the second half of my day when I was feeling a little bit better. Maria’s Comet is “loosely” based on Maria Mitchell, America’s first female astronomer. Yes, this fact alone was very exciting but did you know she was a Nantucket girl? I was very excited to learn that! Unlike many kids’ books about historic people and places, Maria’s Comet doesn’t drag; it dreams. It paints a pretty story of a hardworking girl in a big, worn-out family, following her father following his dreams. Lanino’s illustrations are nearly as telling as the words on the page, capturing Maria’s fantasies about riding the stars.

They both managed to cover the sky in very different ways but they (or the antibiotics) both did the trick and I’m back on my feet. Thank you Maria and Owl!